The United States Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, fired the Secretary of the Navy, John Phelan, after months of tension within the Pentagon, according to the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday (22), citing American officials.
The departure was announced in a post on social media by the Defense Department’s spokesman, Sean Parnell. In the statement, Parnell said that Hegseth and the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Steve Feinberg, thanked Phelan “for his service to the Department and to the United States Navy”.
According to the WSJ, Hung Cao, a Navy veteran and current undersecretary, will assume the post on an interim basis. He had previously gained national prominence when he ran in 2024 for a Senate seat from Virginia, but was defeated by Democrat Tim Kaine.
Phelan’s dismissal comes after a tenure marked by conflicts with Hegseth and Feinberg, including the close relationship of the then Secretary of the Navy with President Donald Trump, the newspaper reported.
One of the main sources of irritation was reportedly Phelan’s initiative to present directly to Trump the idea of a new modern battleship, bypassing the Pentagon’s chain of command.
Also according to the WSJ, Hegseth and Feinberg reacted by creating a new “czar” of submarine acquisitions, an area traditionally tied to the Navy, but which began reporting directly to the Deputy Secretary of Defense. The move was seen within the Department as a way to dilute Phelan’s power.
Phelan’s departure is another chapter in Hegseth’s turbulent relationship with the military leadership. The Secretary of Defense has already fired nearly two dozen senior officers, including recently the Army’s Chief of Staff, and continues to clash publicly and privately with other leaders of the Armed Forces.
